Vehicle seat



VEHICLE SEAT Filed Sept. '7, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. EMORYGLE/v/v S/MPs o/Y amifmw y M ATTORNEY 5.

June 7, 1938. E. G. SIMPSON ,1

VEHICLE SEAT FiledSept. 7, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

7 75 EMORY GLEN/v ,S/MPsON ATTORNEYS.

June 7,1938. E, S I N 2,120,156

VEHICLE SEAT Filed Sept. 7, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 :VW I INVENTOR.

" EMORY GLEN v SIM/=50 ATTORNEYS.

June 7, 938. E. G. SIMPSON 2,120,156

VEHICLE SEAT Filed Sept. 7, 19:55 5 Sheets-Sheet 4- INVENTOR. EMORYGLEN/v S/MPJO/v awimwwo' ATTORNEYS.

5 sheets sheet 5 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

E. G. SIMPSON VEHICLE SEAT Filed Sept. 7, 1935 f/YZO/PY GLENN ,S/Mpso/vJune 7, 1938.

Patented June 7, 1938 UNITED STATES VEHICLE SEAT Emory Glenn Simpson,Detroit, Mich., assignor to Ternstedt Manufacturing Company, Detroit,Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application September 7, 1935, SerialNo. 39,537

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a seat for a vehicle and more particularlywith a seat for an auto-- motive vehicle having an adjustable back. Itis desirable in an automotive vehicle to provide the seat with anadjustable back, and particularly the front vehicle seat back,regardless of whether the seat is a full width sedan seat or anindividual coach seat. There are several reasons supporting thedesirability of making the seat back adjustm able. Among these reasonsis the satisfying of the passengers individual taste as to whatinclination of the seat back affords him the greatest personal seatingcomfort. Thus, one seat by virtue of the adjustability of the seat back,can be in; adjusted to satisfy the seating tastes of individuals as wellas the seating requirements oi different sized individuals.

It is the object of this invention to produce a vehicle seat having anadjustable back which is 20 simply and easily adjusted. This isaccomplished by providing the adjustable seat back with an adjustingmechanism that permits the seat back to be adjusted forwardly by merelymanually pushing or otherwise moving the seat back forwardly whichautomatically locks the seat in this adjusted position and whichrequires no manual or other operation of any additional control orlocking device. In other words, the adjusting mechanism is such that itis automatically oper- 302 ated whenever the seat back is moved to theposition desired.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a vehicle body showing a seatwith an adjustable back 35- which is the subject matter of thisinvention.

Fig. 2 is a detail of the principal form of the mechanism whichautomatically latches the seat in position as it is adjusted forwardly.

Fig. 3 is a detail of the seat back latching 4w mechanism showing thesame being locked out to permit the return movement of the seat back.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are details of the seat back ad-- justing mechanism,Fig. 5 being a section along the line 5--5 of Fig. 3. 43 Fig. MS avertical fragmentary section through a modified form of the seat backadjuster.

Figs. 8 and 12 are detail views of the modified form of adjustingmechanism.

Figs. 9, 10 and 11 are sections along the lines 5n 9-9, Ill-l and llllof Fig. 8.

In the drawings there is shown an automobile body generally designated Iprovided with a front seat comprising a cushion seat bottom 2 and a seatback 3. The seat back 3 may be a full width 55- seat back or a coachseat back. It is also understood that the invention is equallyapplicable to the rear seat back.

To permit adjustment of the seat back the seat back is provided on. eachside with an L-shaped hinge bracket 4, the one arm of which is securedby screws to the seat back and the other arm of which is pivotallyconnected by the pinv 6 to bracket [8 which is fixed to the frame 5 forthe seat bottom cushion 2. Thus the seat back 3 may be swung forwardlyabout the pivot pin 6 from its rearmost position, shown in the fulllines, Fig. 1, to its forwardmost position until the seat back restsupon the seat bottom cushion 2 or strikes the steering wheel.

To permit the seat back 3 to be adjustedfor- 115; wardly and rearwardlyto accommodate the short as well as the tall passengers and also to varythe inclination of the seat back, it is proposed to provide the seatwith a ratchet mechanism for dogging the seat back in adjusted position.To this end a cooperating pawl l and dog 8 are pivotally mounted uponthe heel of the L-shaped hinge bracket 4 by pins 9 and Hi respectively.The pins 9 and It also support a spring having a finger H which engagesbehind the lug E2 on the pawl? 25. applying a force thereto which tendsto rotate the pawl I clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 3. This spring alsohas a finger l3 which engages the lug l4 carried by the dog 8 applying aforce to the dog 8 which tends to rotate the same in a counteraclockwise direction. The dog 8 is provided with ashoulder l5 which isarranged to be engaged by the pawl 1 to lock the same in releasedposition as described below.

A rack l6 for co-action with pawl maybe 3-5; conveniently formed byproviding a plurality of notches along the verticaledge of the returnbent end portion ll of the bracket member I8. The upper inclined wall ofthe top notch is elongated to provide a cam surface H! which extendsbeyond no or forwardly of the apex of any one tooth of the rack I6. Byso extending the upper face of the top notch to form a cam surface I9,the cam surface i9 engages the finger 20 of the pawl and rotates thepawl counterclockwise ,as the seat back 3 is swung forwardly beyond therange of adjustment. As herein shown this range of adjustment comprisesfour positions, one for each notch of the rack, but this range may bevaried by increasing or decreasing the number of notches 5c: in therack. When the pawl l is'swung counterclockwise by the cam IS, the pawlfinger 2i clears the shoulder l5 of the dog 8 and the dog 8 swingsclockwise so that the shoulder it engages under the finger 2|. 7 Thislooks the pawl 2| in released position, that is, out of engagement withthe rack l6, and permits the seat back to be swung rearwardly to itsinitial position.

When the seat back is returned to its original position, it is desirableto provide means for automatically resetting the pawl 1 in engagedposition with rack I6. To this end a dog release member is providedwhich takes the form of a plate 22 having steps 6|, 62, 63, and 64 whichcorrespond to notches 1|, 12,13, and 14 of rack IS. The plate 22 iswelded or otherwise fixed to bar .15 provided with a finger piece 16 andslidably supported crosswise of the vehicle body in brackets 11 fixed tothe bottom of the seat cushion frame 5. The bar 15 is provided with fournotches 19 (corresponding to steps 6|, 621, 63 and 64) which cooperatewith the coil spring and ball detent 13 to hold the bar 15 in adjustedposition. It is, of course, understood that a release member 22 isprovided for each of the pawls 1 at opposite sides of the seat.

After the seat back has been swung forwardly to a position where pawl 1is dogged in released position by the dog 8, as shown in Fig, 3, uponswinging the seat back rearwardly the shoulder 23 of the dog 8 willengage one of the steps 6|, 62, 63 or 64, depending upon the position towhich the member 22 has been adjusted. For example, assume that thepassenger after trying out several positions of adjustment has decidedthat the inclination of the back will best satisfy his desire as tocomfort when the pawl 1 engages in notch 12. As soon as the passengeradjusts the seat with pawl 1 engaged in notch 12 of the rack l6, the bar15 may be slid outwardly or toward the left as shown in Fig. 5 whereuponstep 62 will engage beneath shoulder 23 of dog 8 and the riser 86between steps 62 and 63 will engage the inner face of the dog 8 and stopfurther outward movement of member 22. Now, if it is necessary to swingthe seat back completely forward so that dog 8 looks pawl 1 in releasedposition out of engagement with rack l6, upon swinging the seatrearwardly, the shoulder 23 of the dog 8 will engage step 62 of releasemember 22 and thus permit the spring finger H to throw the pawl finger2|! in notch 12. This assures return of the seat back to its originalposition of adjustment prior to being swung completely forward.

As shown in Fig. 2, the seat back is adjusted so that pawl finger 20engages in notch 1| and the slide 15 has been slid to the left (Figs. 2and 5) so that step 6| engages beneath shoulder 23 of dog 8. Now if theseat back is swung completely forward, for example, as is oftennecessary to permit entry and exit of back seat passengers, the dog 8will dog pawl 1 in released position but as soon as the seat back isswung rearwardly the shoulder 23 of dog 6 (see dotted line showing ofdog 8, Fig. 5) will engage step 6| thereby undogging pawl 1 so thatfinger 26 will again engage notch 1| and insure return of the seat backto the same position of adjustment that it had prior to being swungforwardly.

When the member 22 is adjusted to the dotted line position shown in Fig.5, the pawl 1 will be released upon return movement of the seat back sothat it will engage notch 14.

From the above description it is evident that if the seat back is placedin any preselected position of its four possible positions (11, 12, 13,14) of adjustment, then swung forwardly beyond the adjusting range andreturned, it will always return to its original preselected position ofadjustment provided the release member 22 has been slid to the left orright until the step (either 6|, 62, 63 or 64) corresponding to thepreselected notch (either 1|. 12, 13 or 14) is positioned beneathshoulder 23 of dog 8.

In Figs. '7 through 11 there is shown a modified form of ratchetmechanism for holding the seat in adjusted position. In this form of theinvention the seat back 3, the same as in the principal form of theinvention, has secured thereto at each side an L-shaped hinge bracket 30which is pivotally mounted as at 3| to a support bracket 32. The supportbracket 32 is secured by screws to the seat support 33. The modifiedform of ratchet mechanism comprises a hinge having one flat leaf 34which is secured by screws to the support 33 and another fiat leaf 35 ofspring steel which extends upwardly of the seat back 3 and preferablywithin the outside trimming. The flat hinge leaf 35 is provided with aplurality of notches 36 which form a rack. This rack is arranged tocooperate with a pawl 31 provided with a pair of projections 48 and 49which coact with pin 45 to shift the pawl as described below.

The pawl 31 is pivotally mounted on a pin 38 which is fixed to a supportplate 39. The support plate 39 is provided with top and bottom flanges43 and 4| respectively. The seat back 3 is provided with a cross rail 42which supports the bracket 39. The bracket 39 is secured to the rail 42by screws. The flanges 40 and 4| have openings 43 and 44 through whichthe hinge leaf 35 passes and slidably engages the bracket 39.

The hinge leaf 35 has fixed thereto a pin 45.- A finger member 45 isfixed to the pawl 31 for. interengagement with the rack 36. A snap overcenter coil spring 41 is mounted between the pawl 31 and the plate 39.One end 83 of the spring engages in an opening in the pawl 31 and theother end 89 engages in an opening in the base of the support bracket39. This snap over center spring 41 yieldably retains the pawl 31 in oneor the other of its extreme pivoted positions.

The operation of the modified form of the device is as follows. When theseat back is in the rearmost position shown in the full lines,

Fig. '7, the finger 46 of the pawl interengages thev lowermost notch inthe rack 36 and the coil spring 41 yieldably urges the pawl 31 in acounterclock: wise direction as shown in Fig. 8. If the seat back 3 isnow swung slightly forward, the hinge leaf 35 will swing about its pivotand the pawl finger 46 will ride upwardly out of the lowermost notch ofthe rack into the next notch above it. As the finger 46 rides upwardlyof the leaf 35 from one notch into another, coil spring 41 is not thrownover center but yieldably holds the pawl finger in engagement with therack. When the seat back is swung forwardly a sufficient distance sothat the pawl finger 46 passes out of the uppermost notch of the rack36, then the pin 45 on the hinge leaf 35 is engaged by the lowermostprojection 49 and earns the pawl 31 clockwise over center to theposition shown in Fig. 12. Pawl 31 is held in this over center positionby thespring 41. This permits the back 3 to be thrown completelyforward, the pin 45 passing through the opening 44 as shownin Figs. 10and 12.

When the seat back is now thrown rearwardly the support plate 39 andpawl 31 ride downwardly along the hinge leaf 35 until the pin 45 isengaged by the upper projection 48 on the pawl 31, swinging the pawl 31counterclockwise to over center position and the finger 46 intoengagement with the lowermost notch of the rack 36 as shown in Fig. 8.The seat back is now in its rearmost position shown in the full lines,Fig. 7, and may again be adjusted forwardly as above described. Withthis modified form of seat back adjusting mechanism preferably only oneadjuster is necessary and is located midway between the ends of the seatback.

I claim:

1. In a vehicle seat having a seat bottom and support therefor, a seatback pivotally mounted on the said support to swing forwardly andrearwardly above the seat bottom, seat adjuster mechanism comprisingcooperating rack and pawl members, one of which is pivotally mounted onthe seat back and. the other of which is pivotally mounted on the seatsupport, the said pawl interengaging the rack member when the seat backis swung through a predetermined range to lock the seat against rearwardmovement in any one of a plurality of positions of adjustment,cooperating means carried by the said pawl and rack members arranged toengage when the seat back is thrown forwardly beyond the saidpredetermined range of adjustment to throw the pawl out of engagementwith the said rack whereby said seat back may be swung rearwardlythrough the said predetermined range of adjustment, and a snap overcenter spring connected to said pawl and its support for yieldablyholding the said pawl disengaged from the said rack.

2. In a vehicle seat having a seat bottom and support therefor, a seatback pivotally mounted on the said support to swing forwardly andrearwardly above the seat bottom, seat adjuster mechanism comprisingcooperating rack and pawl members, one of which is pivotally mounted onthe seat back and the other of which is pivotally mounted on the seatsupport, the said pawl interengaging the rack member when the seat backis swung through a predetermined range to lock the seat back againstrearward movement in any one of a plurality of positions of adjustment,a snap over center spring connected to said pawl and its support foryieldably holding the pawl on one side of center in interengagedrelation with the rack and for holding the pawl on the other side ofcenter out of engagement with the said rack, a pin carried by the saidrack member arranged to engage means on the said pawl when the seat backis swung forwardly beyond the predetermined range of adjustment todisengage the pawl from the rack and arranged to engage means on thepawl when the seat back is swung rearwardly through the saidpredetermined range of adjustment to reengage the pawl with the saidrack.

- EMORY GLENN SIMPSON.

